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Rebranding the Ottawa Community Land Trust: A Case Study on Preserving Affordable Housing

Canada is in a housing crisis, and locally in Ottawa, people are feeling the pinch.

Canada is in a housing crisis, and locally in Ottawa, people are feeling the pinch.

For every new affordable home built with government assistance, Ottawa loses several older affordable homes in the private market. That's why the Ottawa Community Land Trust (OCLT) works to preserve affordable housing in Ottawa. By purchasing real estate, this community-run organization ensures that housing can stay affordable while being used for the community's benefit.

As a new organization, the land trust has been in a period of growth that has included launching their first community bonds fundraising program — with a goal now set to raising $3,000,000 — and purchasing their first building on Kirkwood Avenue.

CASE STUDY

The Ottawa Community Land Trust approached us to help strengthen their communications and rebrand their organization.

To support their amazing work, we were thrilled to lead the OCLT through their rebrand, which entailed a Communications Strategy, Message Guide, and a full visual rebranding (including creating a new brand, designing a new website, and setting them up with a new suite of branded collateral and templates).

The Ottawa Community Land Trust team asked us to help build a brand that could embody their community-centred and grassroots nature while bringing the polish needed to speak at Ottawa’s City Hall.

We started with a Communications Strategy and Message Guide, before moving onto a full visual rebranding. Working with the OCLT team, we designed a website and a matching suite of digital and print materials. In order to make rebrand easy to navigate, we created the collateral they needed (like a two pager, banner, signs, etc.) and a suite of easy-to-use digital templates.